Nikon 4300

Does any one have these camera?

Yes, Nikon has sold lots of them.

I have one. Why? Check this out : http://www.aquatix.com/fantaseadigitalpro.htm
I want to get one before my next dive.

Janeane and I have a Nikon 4300 that we gave ourselves as a Christmas gift last year. We never took in to consideration diving with this camera until this summer, and were jazzed to find there was a dive enclosure for it that didn't cost $600 or more.

We picked up a CP-4 Pro enclosure from Fantasea.com at Helix Cameras for a dive weekend in Monterey, Ca. Here are the pics we took. Monterey Dive Trip pics

We'll most likely pick up a strobe light/flash to help brighten the pics and a wide angle lens, but for now we're going to focus on learning more about techinique before we start adding on more expensive toys to our current setup. I really enjoyed being able to see the image on the LCD before taking the pic, and the built in macro feature was a kick.

Total cost so far for the CP-4 Pro has been $195 ($180 + shipping), and I think we spent about $500 or so on the camera.

Hope this helps. ~ Jason

How is the picture quality of these camera? Do you think Nikon is better then olympus? I want to get a camera that is good and not to expensive and I also looked at the Olympus C-50

I don't know if the Nikon 4300 is better than the Olympus C5050 (or the new C5060). I assume you're referring to the C5050 when you mention C50.

The Olympus C5050 is a 5 megapixel camera, so right there you're going to have a better picture with regards to technology. The Nikon 4300 is only 4 megapixel.

As for lens quality and other camera related issues, I bet the cameras are very similar. Very few cameras on the market at 4 megapixel or greater are bad cameras, and the reason for getting one over the other comes down to personal choice after you've thought through the typcial reasons for getting a camera (i.e. quality vs. cost vs. available options vs. technology vs. ease of use vs. support vs. etc....)

There are a lot of people on the list that love the Olympus C5050. If I were purchasing a digital camera for taking underwater pictures, I would be hard pressed to go with any camera other than the C5050 after reading all the reviews and comments on the board. Fortunately for us, we already had a digital camera, and didn't have to make that decision.

I do have to admit that after seeing that you can shoot short video clips with the C5050 (with the camera in the dive enclosure), I was a bit jealous. The CP-4 Pro enclosure for the Nikon 4300 does not allow you to rotate the selector from taking pics to shooting video. I'll have to read my manual to see if there's a way to change this setting while underwater via the buttons I have access to with the enclosure.

Other than that, I've been really happy with the Nikon 4300 (both in and out of water), and I'm very happy with the purchase.

~ Jason

I had the opportunity to compare both the Fantasea and the Olympus housings.
My GF bought the Fantasea housing and I thought it was pretty nice. It has most of the functions available, but one main function that you should be able to access is the power switch. Unfortunately, you are unable to turn the camera off between dives. Another thing, the front ring is actually painted plastic. The flash is also shadowed by the lens in macro mode (closer than about 10").

Last week, I went on the advice from members of this board and bought the Oly C5050.
The Olympus housing (at least for the C5050) has every control accessible. The Olympus housing is much better constructed and has thicker plastic. The buttons are better, the seal is a double O-ring, and the front ring is aluminum. It's also $20 cheaper. The Fantasea comes with flood insurance, though.

The Olympus C50 at full retail is a bit overpriced for what it is. It lacks functionality but it fits easily in your shirt pocket. With that said, Bestbuy a week ago, was blowing these out at $349. Check out some of the review sites before you buy.

Clutchcargo once bubbled...
I had the opportunity to compare both the Fantasea and the Olympus housings.
My GF bought the Fantasea housing and I thought it was pretty nice. It has most of the functions available, but one main function that you should be able to access is the power switch. Unfortunately, you are unable to turn the camera off between dives. Another thing, the front ring is actually painted plastic. The flash is also shadowed by the lens in macro mode (closer than about 10").

Click to expand...

I haven't had a problem with the power being on all day with regards to maintaining the battery, but I could see this being a problem if I wasn't able to change batteries.

The built in flash being shadowed in macro mode was a bit frustrating. Once we realized this was the case, we then realized that the CP-4 Pro doesn't give you access to adjusting or turning off the flash. There are two buttons at the bottom left of the enclosure that allow you to access a menu and the macro mode. One more button would have given access to the flash.

The C5050 does sound like a better camera for underwater photography, thus the reason I'd have a hard time going with anything else if I didn't already have the Nikon 4300.

~ Jason

Both of the systems are fine.
I can offer images I have taken in the Red Sea using the
Fantasea CP-4 Pro Housing, external flash and Coolpix 4300 camera. These images were taken in a few days of diving and are not a collection taken over an extended period of time.

http://www.pbase.com/hman/red_sea_images&page=all

Hope they are helpful.

Howard

These pictures are great... Is it slow to take a picture on it right after another?